FAULKNER MEDIA MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCES NEW DIGITAL DIVISION IN THE SAME WEEK IT IS ACQUIRED BY EBIQUITY
FAULKER MEDIA MANAGEMENT ANNOUNCES NEW DIGITAL DIVISION IN THE SAME WEEK IS IT ACQUIRED BY EBIQUITY
October 17, 2011
Leading Asia-Pacific media consultancy Faulkner Media Management (Faulkner) has announced its launch of a new digital media advisory and training division in the same week it has been acquired by global marketing performance management agency Ebiquity.
Faulkner has also launched a trial to benchmark online video for the first time in Australia.
The announcement of Faulkner‟s digital offering coincides with the company joining the Ebiquity network. The acquisition provides Faulkner with access to Ebiquity‟s worldwide resources. It also strengthens Ebiquity‟s geographic reach, adding Australia, New Zealand and Asia to its operations in the US, UK and Europe.
“It‟s obviously been a busy and productive time for the entire business. We‟re thrilled to be announcing our digital advisory and training division after thorough preparation, and we‟re also excited to be part of the Ebiquity network,” said managing director Eric Faulkner.
“Faulkner will work in partnership with Ebiquity‟s existing Sydney office, which offers advertising intelligence and communications insight services. We are looking forward to working with Hugh Gibson and his team.
“Ebiquity sought us out because of the strength of our people, our systems and our client base. They were looking to complete their network, which is already a market leader in Europe, the UK and US.”
Eric Faulkner and general manager Chris Graham together with the existing team will continue to manage the business.
Faulkner‟s digital division helps marketers achieve better value from their digital investment. The company has established the service based on its industry expertise and research conducted amongst its 70 clients and their agencies. The research quantified the offering and determined what digital advice and training marketers are seeking.
Faulkner‟s research revealed that 90 per cent of all respondents believed there was a need for independent digital media advice in the following five areas: measurement, education to demystify digital, post analysis, pre-campaign briefing and agency/client relationships.
In addition, three quarters of the marketing professionals surveyed by Faulkner cited measurement as the main area of confusion and importance in digital marketing.
Following Faulkner‟s development of the service, the company has appointed Ben Millar to the newly-created position of digital director. With more than 10 years‟ experience in digital marketing, Millar will lead the new division.
“Digital marketing is undergoing explosive growth and there is a critical need among marketers to demystify‟ digital and measure its efficiency. Clients and agencies alike are struggling to set the right KPIs to really understand the return on investment of their digital campaigns,” Millar said.
“We are not there to replace agencies, rather we help clients ask the right questions and provide impartial advice and training. We can help at any stage of the process from briefing agencies, to setting evaluation criteria, so they know what success looks like and can use data insights to helP inform future campaigns.”
Millar comes to Faulkner with a wealth of digital experience. He established digital agency Profero in Australia in 2001 and then moved to Universal McCann working across key clients including Unilever, Microsoft, Coles and Kmart, before becoming national digital director. He sat on the MFA‟s digital committee and has taken an active role in education and training. Prior to his digital media career Millar was a management consultant, experience that has given him a unique set of business process and marketing skills.
In an Australian first, Faulkner‟s online video benchmarking trial aims to deliver efficiency measures and a guide to best practice for online video implementation. A successful outcome for the trial will see the service rolled out to Faulkner‟s existing and new clients in early 2012.
Eric Faulkner commented: “We will for the first time be benchmarking online video which many of our clients have welcomed. Digital is a complex, fast moving space and many marketers admit that they have struggled to keep up, even though they see digital‟s importance in their marketing plans .”
The training component of Faulkner‟s digital offering will offer marketers an intensive course to help demystify digital media, help them to effectively work with their agencies and learn to understand digital strategy development, planning and evaluation.
Faulkner Media Management was established in Australia in 1988, and since then has grown to service more than 70 clients with an annual media spend in excess of $1 billion.